OR girls ready to battle Lebanon

Tuesday

Mar 5, 2013 at 3:15 AM

By Mike Whaleymwhaley@fosters.com

DURHAM — It might seem like business as usual for the Oyster River High School girls ice hockey team as they make their fifth straight appearance in the Division I semifinals. No. 3 OR (14-4-1) meets No. 2 Lebanon (13-3-2) tonight at Concord’s Everett Arena at 5:30.

The winner will advance to Saturday’s final at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, 10 a.m,, against the No. 1 Hanover/No. 4 Bishop Guertin winner. Hanover (18-0) has won four of the five state titles since the NHIAA sanctioned girls hockey in 2007, including the last three.

Oyster River, which has qualified for all six tournaments, made its lone trip to the final in 2011, a 7-4 loss to Hanover.

OR and Lebanon met once this season, Jan. 26 on the Bobcats’ home ice at Jackson’s Landing, playing to a 3-3 tie.

“We blew a two-goal lead,” said OR coach Jamie Long. “I don’t remember much, but that I do remember. They’re a good team.”

The Bobcats advanced to the semis with Friday’s 6-2 first-round win over rival STA/Dover in which junior Sandra Strogen netted a hat trick. Oyster River also advanced to the semis last season with a win over their rival.

As for Lebanon, Long said, “They’re a big club. They’ve got some size and they can skate. When we played them in January we let them back in the game. We took some penalties. I think they’re a little more talented than we are.”

But Long expects the Bobcats to be in the game.

“If we skate hard and work hard we can hang with them,” he said. “It depends which team shows up.”

OR has a couple of strong scorers in Strogen and Hannah Herz-Khan. Goalie Emily Croot had 23 saves in the Lebanon tie and 21 stops in the win over STA/Dover.

Sarah Lessard scored twice and Herz-Khan once as the Bobcats build a 3-1 lead against Lebanon during their January meeting.

“We need our big players to step up and our role players to do their part,” Long said. “We’ve got to contain their biggest player.”

That player is senior forward Chrissy Drake, the Raiders’ all-time leading scorer and a returning all-state first-team selection.

“She’s strong and she skates well,” Long said.

OR will have to play solid defense without one of its top defenseman, Mickayla Hartford, who will miss tonight’s game after being assessed a one-game disqualification for hitting an STA/Dover player last Friday.

“That puts us behind the eight-ball,” Long said. “Someone has to step up and do the job.”

“It’s been a good season for us,” Long added. . “Now it’s a whole different brand of hockey. It’s a one-game series and anything can happen. It’s down to four pretty good teams. You lose a game now, it’s done. You win and play Saturday and you win you’ve had a good season. You should be happy.”